Brunonia

Here's something to cheer us up (aside from the good weather this weekend). Publisher's Weekly interviews a few Black bookstore owners on how Black indie bookstores have bounced back from a steep decline several years ago. If a bookstore in your city is mentioned, be sure and visit.

1,500 writers and artists signed a protest letter, "No Celebration of Occupation," against the Toronto International Film Festival's decision to spotlight the city of Tel Aviv. (from Democracy Now)

"There used to be a time when people read literature to confront stuff. To experience things vicariously—whether it’s a forbidden scene or a forbidden idea. I think now we’re looking to literature for an escape from that. I’m not sure why that is." Guernica interviews Marlon James, whose most recent novel A Brief History of Seven Killings was reviewed on the Book Report.

This is supercool: Hyperallergic reports programmer Jamie Zawinski has created a digital rendering of the library of Babel from Jorge Luis Borges’s short story of the same name, which imagines an institution intended to house all potential books. You might also enjoy our 2013 piece about a discovered set of Borges lectures from a class the author taught in Argentina in 1966.

Listen to Seamus Heaney read his translation of Beowulf on the BBC’s website. For what it’s worth, Heaney’s version gets my vote as the best one out there. Consider this passage for some Wednesday inspiration.